Division of Science, Information Arts and Technologies

Students are encouraged to take advantage of our state-of-the-art lab facilities for their research.

Scheduling the Lab

Scheduling time to use the lab is done by appointment. Please email ubusabilitylab@gmail.com with the dates and times you would like after referencing the schedule. We will do our best to accommodate your preferences.

When scheduling, please plan to arrive half an hour before your first test and to remain 30 minutes to an hour after your final test. This time is needed to set up for participants before testing and back up recordings after testing.

Backing Up Data

At the close of every day of testing, you will need to back up your data. We recommend using a dedicated external hard drive. The lab does not have the ability to store your data and cannot guarantee its safety. Eye-tracking data takes up approximately 30 GB per hour of recording. Due to the large file sizes, your hard drive must be NTFS formatted.

Is My Hard Drive NTFS Formatted?

If you bring a new hard drive into the lab, it will automatically be formatted properly.

If you are currently using your hard drive on a Mac, the drive is not formatted properly. We can format the drive in the lab, but you will lose all of the data on the drive. Once you are finished with your data, you can reformat the hard drive back to a Mac-friendly format.

If you are using your hard drive on a PC and want to make sure it is NTFS formatted:

Plug the drive into your computer.

Open "My Computer" and right-click on the drive name [e.g. My Drive (G:)].

Select "Properties."

In the properties panel, find the "File System" label.

If the file system is NTFS, your drive will work with the lab machines as is.

If the file system is FAT32, your drive will need to be reformatted. We can reformat the drive in the lab, but reformatting will cause all of the data on the drive to be erased.